The Bisons won both games of a double-header on Sunday, besting the Pawtucket Red Sox 5-2 in game one, and 2-1 in game two.
After Saturday night’s rainout, which was the first weather-related cancellation at Coca-Cola Field this season, the Bisons and PawSox met for two seven-inning contests on Sunday. The weather cooperated, as the Herd ends the day back at the .500 mark, at 61-61.
Game one
Buffalo beat the Red Six in the early contest, with the Bisons’ bats coming alive for a 5-2 victory. Domonic Brown and Ryan Goins each had two hits in game one, with every Bisons’ batter besides Andy Burns and Erik Kratz reaching base at least once.
The Herd took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Facing Pawtucket’s starter Sean O’Sullivan, Dalton Pompey took the second pitch of the bottom of the inning deep for a solo-home run. Dominic Brown followed Pompey’s third homer of the season with a RBI-single over the head of shortstop Deven Marrero.
Buffalo added two more runs in the second inning. Ryan Goins plated Erik Kratz for his second hit of the ballgame, and Jesus Montero drove in a rehabbing Ezequiel Carrera to make it 4-1 Bisons. In the third, a single off the bat of Casey Kotchman added another run on the scoreboard for the Herd.
“[We] got to O’Sullivan early,” Bisons’ manager Gary Allenson said of his lineup in game one. “Two [runs] in the first, two in the second, one in the third, and we made it hold up. We made it interesting at the end. It’s ever easy.”
Casey Lawrence stranded a Christian Vazquez double in the first inning, and left two men on base following Deven Marrero’s RBI single in the second, which cut the Bisons’ lead to 2-1. He retired 11 in a row at one point, until a Chris Young double in the sixth. Young scored on a double by Bryce Brentz, making it 5-2, and was removed after a line of 5.1 innings, six hits, and two earned runs. He improves to 4-4 on the year.
“How [Lawrence] started his Triple-A career here with us, a spot-start here and there., it almost looked like he didn’t belong,” Allenson said of starter Casey Lawrence. “He’s gotten past that point. He gave up a run early and was in a jam, and did a great job working out of it, and he showed he belongs here.”
Sean O’Sullivan walked a pair of batters in the fourth, but induced Jesus Montero into an inning-ending double play. After issuing his sixth walk of the game with two outs in the fifth, he was relieved by Roman Mendez. The PawSox reliever fanned Ryan Goins looking with a runner on third in the sixth, his third strikeout in relief on the day.
Danny Barnes, rejoining the Herd after his first stint in the majors earlier in August, stranded the bases loaded in the sixth. Things got dicey in the bottom of the seventh for Barnes, who earned his third save of the season. Dalton Pompey dropped a deep-fly ball in right-centerfield with one out, allowing Marco Hernandez to reach third base. A walk to Christian Vazquez and a hit-by-pitch of rehabbing outfielder Chris Young loaded the bags. Barnes bared down, striking out the final two hitters of the game.
“Obviously, it was a little crazy today,” Barnes said of his outing. “I didn’t have really good command of my fastball, but thankfully, I had it with all other pitches, so it ended up working out all right.”
“I think with Barnes; he was a little rusty,” Allenson said of Barnes. “He hadn’t pitched in four or five days. That’s not like him. He’s usually spotting his stuff pretty good.”
Barnes appeared in his first game with the Herd since being optioned by Toronto on Aug. 10. He holds a 0.47 ERA in 13 games with Buffalo this year.
Ezequiel Carrera patrolled left field for the second straight night in a rehab assignment with the Herd. He went 1-3 with a triple and a walk, coming off his first game on Friday, when he went 0-4, striking out swinging three times.
“I told him, if you don’t get a hit here, you’re not going up,” Allenson jokingly said of his pep-talk to Carrera, shortly before his triple. “Thank god he listened to me.”
Bisons’ first baseman and defensive wiz Casey Kotchman made a few noteworthy plays in the field. First, he laid out to his left in the third inning, robbing Christian Vazquez of potential extra bases. Then in the fourth, he quickly ran down a popup near the Bisons dugout, making a basket catch on a ball off the bat of Bryce Brentz.
Game two
The Bisons bested the PawSox in game two, needing only two runs on four this to sweep Sunday’s doubleheader. The Herd’s 2-1 victory was led by a strong start by Scott Copeland, and RBI by Ryan Goins and Jio Mier.
Just like in game one, the Herd scored in the bottom of the first to take an early advantage. Fresh off a two-hit game earlier in the day, Ryan Goins plated Dalton Pompey to make it a 1-0 game.
After a leadoff single to begin the ballgame, Bisons’ starter Scott Copeland retired nine in a row until an error by first baseman Chris Colabello in the top of the fourth. He faced just one over the minimum through four innings.
A leadoff walk in the fifth to Rusney Castillo would come across to score the tying run in the fifth inning, as Mike Miller drove an RBI single to even the game at one.
The Herd regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Andy Burns walked and stole both second and third base, and came around to score on a sac-fly by Jio Mier.
Copeland stranded two runners in the sixth inning, his final frame of work. He now has four straight starts in which he has allowed just one earned run. Copeland yielded just three hits and two walks on Sunday to pick up his second win of the year.
“One thing about [Copeland] is that he doesn’t panic,” Allenson said of his game two starter. “Regardless of whether the first guy gets on base, or he gives up a line hit, or they tie the game, he’s a pro out there. He keeps his cool.”
Dustin Antolin relieved Copeland in the seventh, and made the final inning interesting, much like in game one. Two runners reached base, but a groundout by Marco Hernandez capped off Sunday’s double-header sweep.
“I had to work through it,” Antolin said postgame. “I didn’t have my fastball, the speed was there, but my location wasn’t, I just had to figure something out.”
The rehabbing Ezequiel Carrera went hitless in two at bats, walking in the bottom of the sixth.
Ryan Goins concludes Sunday with nine multi-hit games as a Bison this year, going a combined 3-6 with two RBI in both games. He has a hit in 17 of his 22 games in Buffalo.
PawSox starter William Cuevas pitched 6.0 innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits, striking out just one batter. He falls to 6-6 in 2016.
Much like Casey Kotchman in game one, Chris Colabello made a defensive gem in game two at first base. In the top of the first, Colabello dove to his left to spear a line drive by Brennan Boesch, preventing a run from scoring. In the top of the sixth, Dalton Pompey made a running catch in the leftfield corner, tracking down a deep fly ball, again off the bat of Boesch.
The Bisons welcome the Rochester Red Wings to Coca-Cola Field on Monday for the beginning of a three-game series. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m., with Scott Diamond taking the mound for the Herd.
BISONS NOTES:
Dustin Antolin has allowed one earned run in his last 19 outings, and picks up his 10th save. He joins Ryan Tepera with double-digit saves for the 2016 Bisons. Two relievers with 10 or more saves has not happened in Buffalo since 2008, when Rick Bauer and Bubbie Buzachero saved 15 and 10 games, respectively… Sean O’Sullivan’s six walks in game one ties a season high for a start against Buffalo this year. Louisville’s Amir Garret issued six free-passes against the Herd on June 22… Dalton Pompey’s blast in game one was the third home run to lead off a first inning by a Bison, with Pompey doing it previously on May 10 against Durham.
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